US3921491A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Bass system for automatic root fifth and pedal sustain
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1973-04-25
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Granted: 1975-11-25
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Expires: 1993-04-25
Abstract
Abstract An improved system is provided for automatically playing bass notes for root and fifth parts of manually held accompaniment chords, including diminished and augmented chords, and for performing pedal sustain keying functions. Latching circuits are provided which respond to actuation of playing keys or pedals and which store the response to the last pedal actuated. The system also includes circuitry for keying bass tones for actuated pedals and for the root and fifth parts of manually played chords. This circuitry includes a set of gates which are each enabled by an associated latching circuit, inhibited by other latching circuits, and inhibited by outputs from other operated gates. The system further includes keying bus sensing and controllable ratio frequency dividers to cover a multiple octave range and to reduce the number of pins required for an integrated circuit pack to implement the system.
Inventors
- 👤 Alfred B Freeman
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 02:48
CPC Classifications
G; G10; G10H; G10H1/00; G10H1/36; G10H1/38; G10H1/383; G10H2210/00; G10H2210/571; G10H2210/596; G10H2210/601; G10H2210/616; G10H2210/626; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S84/00; Y10S84/22; Y10S84/25
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
163 words
In an electronic musical instrument having a set of pedals for the notes of a musical scale, a set of tone generators, and an output system including a sound transducer, the combination of: a. a set of latch circuits for the notes of a musical scale, each of said latch circuits having a set and a reset condition; b. first means responsive to actuation of each of said pedals for setting the one of said latch circuits for the same note; c. a frequency divider having its output coupled to said output system; d. means responsive to each of said latch circuits in the set condition for applying an output from one of said tone generators to said frequency divider; e. means for producing a drive to reset all of said latch circuits while any of said pedals is actuated; and f. means responsive to actuation of each of said pedals for inhibiting the resetting of said latch circuit for the same note.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
163 words
In an electronic musical instrument having a set of pedals for the notes of a musical scale, a set of tone generators, and an output system including a sound transducer, the combination of: a. a set of latch circuits for the notes of a musical scale, each of said latch circuits having a set and a reset condition; b. first means responsive to actuation of each of said pedals for setting the one of said latch circuits for the same note; c. a frequency divider having its output coupled to said output system; d. means responsive to each of said latch circuits in the set condition for applying an output from one of said tone generators to said frequency divider; e. means for producing a drive to reset all of said latch circuits while any of said pedals is actuated; and f. means responsive to actuation of each of said pedals for inhibiting the resetting of said latch circuit for the same note.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
65 words
The combination according to claim 1 including a set of playing keys for the notes of a musical scale; second means responsive to actuation of each of said playing keys for setting the one of said latching circuits for the same note; and means for switching said second setting means on or off; and wherein said producing means is also responsive to said switching means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
The combination according to claim 2 including means for limiting said applying means to one of said outputs at a time.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
62 words
The combination according to claim 2 wherein said frequency divider can divide by different ratios and including means for controlling said frequency divider to divide by one ratio in response to actuation of any playing key for a note in one octave range and by another ratio in response to actuation of any playing key for a note in another octave range.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
21 words
The combination according to claim 1 including means for limiting said applying means to one of said outputs at a time.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
60 words
The combination according to claim 1 wherein said frequency divider can divide by different ratios and including means for controlling said frequency divider to divide by one ratio in response to actuation of any pedal for a note in one octave range and by another ratio in response to actuation of any pedal for a note in another octave range.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
39 words
The combination according to claim 1 wherein the speed of response of said producing means to release of all pedals is faster than the response of said inhibiting means to the release of the pedal for the same note.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
172 words
In an electronic musical instrument having a set of playing keys for the notes of a musical scale, a set of tone generators, and an output system including a sound transducer, the combination of: a. a set of control gates for the notes of a musical scale; b. means responsive to actuation of each of said playing keys for enabling the operation of the one of said control gates for the same note; c. first means responsive to actuation of each of said playing keys for inhibiting another of said control gates for a note related to its note by a musical seventh interval; d. second means responsive to operation of each of said control gates for inhibiting another of said gates for a note related to its note by a musical third interval; e. a frequency divider having its output coupled to said output system; and f. means responsive to operation of each of said control gates for applying an output from one of said tone generators to said frequency divider.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
172 words
In an electronic musical instrument having a set of playing keys for the notes of a musical scale, a set of tone generators, and an output system including a sound transducer, the combination of: a. a set of control gates for the notes of a musical scale; b. means responsive to actuation of each of said playing keys for enabling the operation of the one of said control gates for the same note; c. first means responsive to actuation of each of said playing keys for inhibiting another of said control gates for a note related to its note by a musical seventh interval; d. second means responsive to operation of each of said control gates for inhibiting another of said gates for a note related to its note by a musical third interval; e. a frequency divider having its output coupled to said output system; and f. means responsive to operation of each of said control gates for applying an output from one of said tone generators to said frequency divider.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
27 words
The combination according to claim 8 including means for disabling one of said second inhibiting means responsive to actuation of a particular one of said playing keys.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
25 words
The combination according to claim 8 including means for limiting the response of said applying means to one of said control gates at a time.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
37 words
The combination according to claim 10 incuding means for sensing the musical relation between the notes of operated pairs of said control gates to determine to which of said operated control gates said applying means will respond.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
34 words
The combination according to claim 10 including means for switching the response of said applying means from one to another when more than one of said control gates is operated at the same time.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
19 words
The combination according to claim 12 including an automatic rhythm device to operate said switching means in rhythmic patterns.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
62 words
The combination according to claim 8 wherein said first inhibiting means inhibits said control gates for notes in seventh and major seventh musical relation to the note for each of said playing keys actuated and said second inhibiting means inhibits said control gates for notes in third and minor third musical relation to the note for each of said operated control gates.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
27 words
The combination according to claim 14 including means for disabling one of said second inhibiting means responsive to actuation of a particular one of said playing keys.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1978-11-24 | 1979-05-26 | 1979-11-25 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1982-11-24 | 1983-05-26 | 1983-11-25 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1986-11-24 | 1987-05-26 | 1987-11-25 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |